The ‘Aquaman’ Sequel Is Finally Greenlit, Well After The First Crossed The Billion Dollar Line

Here’s news that is weird because it didn’t come earlier: Aquaman is getting a sequel. It’s big news for a modest underdog of a movie that’s grossed over a billion dollars worldwide and became the highest grossing DC movie in history, beating even the Christopher Nolan Batmans.

The Hollywood Reporter has this one, saying that Warner Bros. is finally starting to piece together what will become Aquaman 2, or whatever they wind up calling it. James Wan, the director of Saw who became the director of The Conjuring films who became the director of Furious 7, is still in negotiations to return (or not). Meanwhile, scribe David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, who wrote the first movie, is already set to return.

So why is a second Aquaman only getting greenlit about two months after the first opened to instant box office, uh, sunken treasure? Why didn’t Warner Bros. seize the day when it was breaking record after record after record? Isn’t it de rigueur these days to announce sequels the second a film has a strong Thursday night opening bow? And why plan Aquaman spinoffs before an Aquaman sequel? These are questions that have no answers, at least not now. It’s a strange and mysterious industry, the film industry, and so just be glad you’re seeing more of the superhero who used to be the butt of jokes in classic SNL sketches.